This week the New York Times released their holiday gift guide for graphic novels, and it should come as no surprise to anything that follows the NYT’s blog that manga doesn’t get any love from the writers in charge. This list was no different. David Welsh of the Precious Curmudgeon blog decided to take matters into his own hands. He announced on Twitter that he would be doing his own holiday gift guide for manga, and invited other manga bloggers to join him. Watch for David’s list on Thanksgiving, and other lists from Kuriostiy, Okazu and Manga Bookshelf blogs next week just to name a few.

Manga Omnibuses: FTW or WTF?

Lissa of the Kuriosity blog, the maven of Amazon early solicitations, caught a whiff of several omnibuses from Del Rey. Not reprints like Viz Media has been doing with their BIG editions or Tokyopop’s Ultimate editions. These are first time printings, often completing a series. We got the first inklings of these with Del Rey’s announcement that they would complete some of the Kodansha titles that Tokyopop lost as omnibus editions. But these omnibus editions that Lissa found have neither been announced nor confirmed by Del Rey (who remained strangely silent on the issue). In her post, Lissa posits an interesting thought; is it preferable to get a series as a wrist-breaking omnibus that costs more, but actually saves in the long run and get a complete series, or is it better to stay with individual volumes and possibly never see the end? Well, you can tell my thoughts from the slant of that sentence. With so many titles having been left hanging from poor management, I for one, would prefer the omnibus editions, and my wrists be damned! I’d rather have a complete series than none at all. And while this opinion might seem like common sense, not every one feels that way.

Is the End Near?

It must be a sign of the Apocalypse. 2012 is real! The New York Times Arts Beat blog finally features a manga! Too bad they chose to do it the week that Vampire Knight is at the top so they can take the opportunity to make snide comments about women, vampire stories and Twilight. Well at least now we can confirm that they do realize manga exists, and exactly what they think of it. Good job NYT for jumping on the Twilight hating bandwagon and dragging manga along. I’m sure you’re very proud of yourself.

Tezuka on your iPhone? There’s an app for that

Software developer D-Arc has released an app for the iPhone and iPod Touch that features Osamu Tezuka’s manga in english. It’s weekly Astro Boy Magazine features about 100 pages of chapters from titles like Astro Boy, Black Jack and Phoenix. The first volume is available now on the iTunes store for free. Subsequent volumes will be released in the near future, and will run $.99 each. If you don’t mind being limited by platform and screen size, this is a great way to sample Tezuka’s work.

Next Tokyopop Insider with Stu!

Tokyopop has announced that their next Insider webcast will be the week of the November 30, and will feature Stu Levy, the CEO of the company. Details are still forthcoming for the exact date and time, but here’s the heads up now, so you can keep your calendar clear.

Spice & Wolf covers for everyone (that buys it)!

Yen Press really took it on the chin from rabid fans who hated the new cover for the light novel Spice & Wolf. To try to appease these “fans” who threatened to boycott the book, Yen Press made a book cover that replicated the original Japanese cover. Originally intended to only be available through the December 2009 issue of Yen Plus, Yen has expanded their availability by offering the cover to online retailers who wished to participate. Yen Press has been really good about this and is bending over backwards to appease a harsh fanbase that would sooner turn on them. They definitely deserve some support!

NYT Best Selling Manga List

For a second week in a row, Vampires hold the #1 position on the list. Vampire Knight vol 8 continues to reign supreme. Naruto vol 46 waits patiently at #2 for it’s chance to retake the title. Ouran High School Host Club vol 13 moves up 1 to #3, followed closely by Black Bird vol 2 at #4. Maximum Ride vol 2 moves back up 1 to #5 with Rosario Vampire vol 10 moving up to #6. Negima! Magister Negi Magi vol 24 plunges 4 places to #7, but Soul Eater vol 1 holds it’s ground at #8 along with D. Gray-Man vol 15 and Tsubasa vol 24 also keeping their spots at #9 and #10 respectively. There’s some maneuvering, but no real change in the list this week. Well see if that remains after Viz’s latest releases this week. So the status quo remains with Viz at 6 titles, and Del Rey and Yen Press title at 2 each.